As the Trump Party takes over the GOP, anti-Trump Republicans are abandoning the party in droves – thereby weakening it for general elections while simultaneously strengthening Trump’s hand inside it. It’s great news for Democrats and Joe Biden.
Why Trump’s Takeover of the GOP is Great for Biden and the Democrats (but a Potential Disaster for America) | The Smirking Chimp
Trump declared in Helsinki, standing next to Vladimir Putin, that he trusted the Russian leader, but not the American intelligence services. By putting his trust in Putin, a former KGB colonel, saying that he took him at his word when he denied interfering in the 2016 presidential election, Trump reiterated his denunciations of American intelligence services.
Trump intelligence chiefs hid evidence of Russian election interference – Raw Story – Celebrating 16 Years of Independent Journalism
Is this ‘the most innocent man anywhere in the history of the United States’?
Donald Trump: what crimes has the ex-president been accused of?
The odious Trump once smugly observed that “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” When it comes to the Republican base, he was clearly correct. The opinion polling shows that registered Republicans still overwhelmingly support Trump even after he unleashed a mob on the Capitol in a way that resulted in the murder of policeman Brian Sicknick. What Trump did not imply, and what no one could have foreseen, was that even the man he shot would continue to vote for him. The 43 Republican senators who voted to acquit Trump were in mortal danger of their lives on January 6, and had they been evacuated only a few moments later than they were, some of them would likely have been taken hostage. We know that behind the scenes the Republican senators are furious at the former president for so endangering them, and that they talk dirty about him among themselves. And yet. And yet.
Who were the Republican Senators afraid of when they Acquitted their own attempted murderer?
I analyzed all of Trump’s tweets to find out what he was really saying
The tally was in, it was clear Donald Trump had lost – and he tweeted: “either a new election should take place or … results nullified.” It sounds familiar, but it wasn’t November 2020. It was February 2016. Trump was just months into his presidential campaign, and was already telling a story he would tell countless times over the following five years, hinting to the world at the character of the man the U.S. Senate will soon evaluate in the impeachment trial. Back then, Trump was seeking to nullify Ted Cruz’s victory. And he was accusing Iowa of bungling the primary vote counting.
I analyzed all of Trump’s tweets to find out what he was really saying
This week’s Senate trial is unlikely to convict Donald Trump of inciting sedition against the United States. At least 17 Republican senators are needed for conviction, but only five have signaled they’ll go along.
The Monstrous Predicament Trump Left Behind | The Smirking Chimp
However, decades of research on social influence, persuasion and psychology show that the messages that people encounter heavily influence their decisions to engage in certain behaviors.
Yes, Speech can Incite Violence: What Decades of Research Show about Trump’s Impeachment Trial
Next week Republicans in Washington have one more chance to turn their backs on fascism. They could reject the laughable claims from Trump’s lawyers that he was merely exercising his free speech rights by telling his mob to march on Congress and fight like hell. Apparently such conduct does not constitute incitement to riot, because the word “incitement” has lost all relationship to reality. Nobody expects Republican senators to vote in enough numbers to convict Trump of the obvious charges that played out on television. Nobody expects enough of them to reject the violent overthrow of the democracy that put them in the Senate. They represent, to use Bush’s language, a hostile regime inside the nation’s capital. Until Republicans split with the insurrectionists – by ejecting them from their party or forming their own – democracy itself is unsafe.
Democracy or the white supremacist mob: which side is the Republican party on? | Donald Trump | The Guardian
A clear majority of Americans want twice-impeached former President Donald Trump to be convicted by the Senate and barred from holding office in the future, according to polling results released Monday, the same day the House of Representatives delivered an article of impeachment against Trump for “incitement of insurrection” to the upper chamber of Congress.
Poll: Majority Want Trump Barred From Holding Future Office | Crooks and Liars
The intention of this post is to examine three areas of concern which have arisen or have persisted in concerning the world at large. They are: the COVID-19 pandemic; Climate Change; and Donald J. Trump. The focus will be on how these topics are presented in various arenas, including Murdoch media.
Three strikes out! – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and several other members of the “sedition caucus” are still in Congress and stand as a constant reminder of how much accountability and healing must still occur.
America’s national healing depends on Donald Trump facing real punishment | Salon.com
Trump can diminish both the GOP and himself. The question is by how much?
Yes, there is a deep schism in the GOP between the traditional budget-conscious, business-friendly old guard and the nativist culture warriors still loyal to Donald Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, having exploited the useful idiot in the White House for conservative judges and a tax cut, now wants nothing to do with him or his ilk. (McConnell, according to a revealing New Yorker piece, is particularly terrified of the GOP losing corporate donors in the wake of the Trump-stoked putsch on Jan. 6.)
Larry Hackett: Republicans and Trump loyalists go head to head
The late, great anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko once said: “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” Thanks to the inane, ego-driven, and now deadly antics of Trump, the second most potent weapon is loyalty.
Trump’s second most potent weapon – loyalty
With his final acts before leaving office, President Donald Trump revealed a deep contempt for his supporters—and for the platform he ran on.
Trump Never Cared About His Fans. His Pardons Prove It. – Mother Jones
The Labor leader thundered that Scott Morrison had gone “too far” in his support for the defeated President, claiming “Trumpists” were the “bedrock” of the Prime Minister’s supporters. While it’s no secret Mr Morrison enjoyed a far better relationship with Mr Trump than most world leaders – feted with a state dinner, lauded as the “man of titanium”, and awarded the Legion of Merit – what is less clear is how the Trump era changed Australian politics.
A ‘last outpost’ for Trump tactics: did Donald change Australian politics?
“Today is the last full day of the worst and most dangerous president in American history,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
‘Good Riddance You Fascist White Supremacist’: Trump Farewell Gets Cold Shoulder | Common Dreams News
400,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, according to a tracker from Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. Just Hit 400,000 COVID-19 Deaths In Record Time | HuffPost Australia
Whether Trump is ultimately convicted or not in the Senate, the system that produced him will be acquitted—by Congress, by the new president, by Wall Street, by the corporate media. It is we who will pay the price.
Trump May Be on Trial, But You Can Bet the System That Produced Him Will Be Acquitted | The Smirking Chimp
But if Australians followed the 2020 presidential race in the United States with greater-than-usual interest, it was because when boiled down, it presaged a plausible descent for Australia’s politics, too.
As Trump exits the White House, he leaves Trumpism behind in Australia
After Trump’s lies disappeared from Twitter and Facebook, the dissemination of falsehoods and the conversations based on them fell dramatically.
‘Talk About a Super Spreader’: Analysis Finds Online Election Misinformation Fell by 73% After Trump Barred | Common Dreams News
States “thought they were getting more doses and they planned for more doses and opened up to 65 and up, thinking they were getting more.”
Promised Vaccine Stockpile Doesn’t Even Exist? Governors Demand Trump ‘Answer Immediately for This Deception’ | Common Dreams News
Australia’s Disgusting Leadership (ODT)
Members of the Morrison government have saved their loudest outrage for Twitter, the social media platform Trump used to incite his followers, and the platform that has finally banned Trump for life. This, it appears, is the great injustice, an affront to “free speech,” and, wait for it, censorship.
When your government thinks banning Trump from Twitter is the real injustice – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Murdoch had rehersed his skills as far back as the 70″s in Australia (ODT)
Rupert Murdoch had never had a US president in his pocket before Donald Trump landed there in 2016.
Origin of the specious: how the Murdoch business polluted a democracy
The defeated president called for chaos and his supporters responded by storming the Capitol in Washington, disrupting the counting of electoral votes. Robert MackeyRobert Mackey January 7 2021, 9:44 a.m.
Trump Unleashes Mob to Disrupt U.S. Government
The far right is focused on “Stop the Steal” nonsense, but violence driven by white supremacy won’t disappear even if Trump does.
Far-Right Violence Will Continue With or Without Trump
A British judge has rejected a Trump administration bid to extradite Julian Assange to face charges relating to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified diplomatic cables a decade ago, saying that he would be a suicide risk.
Julian Assange to not be extradited to US on espionage charges
Mary Trump’s recent memoir about her uncle validated just about everything you and your co-authors wrote over three years ago. And in your new book completed over the summer, you wrote: “Now with an election looming, he will likely refuse to concede the results, call the election a fraud, and refuse to leave office.” This is exactly what is happening right now. In contrast to journalists who approach Trump based on what they know about politics and past presidents, you approach him based on your experiences with patients. Tell me about your work in forensic psychiatry.
Here’s Why It Is Necessary to Speak out about Trump’s Psychological Dangerousness and Lack of Mental Capacity | The Smirking Chimp
My thought for the day If we are to save our democracy, we might begin by asking that at the very least our politicians should be transparent and tell the truth.
The last words on Trump, hopefully – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Maybe nothing better could be expected in a year that saw denial and delusion, led by President Donald Trump, presage a wave of illness and death coupled with evictions, bankruptcies, hunger and ruined livelihoods. But after enduring so much, Americans can hardly be blamed for feeling outrage at yet another indignity at the hand of their leaders.
Americans suffer at Christmas while Trump golfs and sows chaos – CNNPolitics
the Bush administration’s Justice Department sent me a letter saying it was conducting a criminal investigation into “the unauthorized disclosure of classified information” in my 2006 book, “State of War.”
Snowden and Assange Deserve Pardons. So Do the Whistleblowers Trump Imprisoned.
For the United States, the lesson is stark. Surviving the recent electoral turmoil does not guarantee it will outlast a similar scenario the next time. Republican leaders’ failure to repudiate baseless allegations of electoral fraud – and some Republicans’ willingness to pursue legal action based on these claims – further undermines the legitimacy of the democratic process. Trump was defeated, but Trumpism will have a lasting effect.
How Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook will Turn America into a Banana Republic
Defending democracy is part of a journalist’s job
Never let Trump’s accomplices live down their attacks on democracy | Media Matters for America
But just a few remote control clicks away at OANN and Newsmax, the presenters have had no qualms about presenting this alternative reality to their viewers. On these networks, the prospect of Trump being inaugurated for a second term on January 20 appears to be very much alive. Of the two insurgent networks, OANN is the least-watched and the most extreme. The network was founded in 2013 by California businessman Robert Herring, and was explicitly intended to serve as a far-right alternative to Fox. OANN does not release its ratings figures publicly, a tell-tale sign that its viewer numbers are low, but Herring has claimed the network received a big bounce after the election.
Donald Trump fans get fix of unreality on extremist networks OANN and Newsmax
No president has so many close associates from his election campaign and his administration tried in the federal criminal courts—and convicted or pleaded guilty—than Donald J. Trump did in his lone term. Score big points for the U.S. federal courts’ judicial independence for that alone.
How and Why the American Judicial System Saved the U.S.A. from Trumpism
When you look at its economic numbers, China’s having a good pandemic. The boom in demand for personal protective equipment and the impact of lockdowns on purchases of appliances and electronics has produced a surge in China’s exports and a record monthly trade surplus.
China-Australia dispute: Beijing’s record November to further unsettle western world
World Mental Health Coalition Board member who has helped guide members in applying our mental health knowledge to the political domain as well as within the currents of history, to achieve our mission of bettering societal mental health.
Fascism Expert: Donald Trump Has Turned Destructive and Vindictive — Like All Dictators | The Smirking Chimp
